"I'm warning you," said the butcher at Tiptop Meats in Vista, "these baby backs are meaty." With mouth watering, I drove home post haste and proceeded to prepare the family meal of baby back ribs with Little Hermit Stout barbecue sauce. An hour later, I looked out out over the street below like a proprietary hawk, and who should drive by slowly -- very slowly, as though waiting to be discovered? Dad and Mom. I ran out to the front porch and beckoned them in. Between you and me, I had meant to invite them a couple of days ago for tonight's dinner but got caught up in the week's drama -- you don't need to know more (unless you invite me over for a beer). Let's just say the ribs with stout sauce, taters and corn on the cob were eaten -- no leftovers.

Making the barbecue sauce with Little Hermit Stout.

In the background, chicken broth is simmering for a black bean with ham hock soup to be made in a couple of days. Did I mention that pork is good?

A barista angel joined me on the front porch, apparently. It was a perfect day, in the mid-70's, for brewing up a milk stout accented with Scharffen Berger cocoa nibs and Enne Caffe organic Peru coffee (to be added in secondary fermentation). Get away from the cold, my friends back east, and come out for a brew day in Vista, California. Or, join me for a cold one on the front porch and take in the sunset -- Southern California style.

Surely there was a barista angel somewhere in the vicinity of Vista, California's emerald hills.

Yesterday was an excellent brew day -- cool and refreshing. On the menu: Hoary Puffleg Stout, a Foreign Extra Stout flavored with Bulleit Bourbon, orange peel harvested from my parents' yard, and cinnamon. This morning, the beer is fermenting with the regularity of a jogger's heartbeat. Can't wait to taste this big stout and share it with friends.

Gwen Conley at The Lost Abbey brewery in San Marcos, California, suggested I try making beers with citrus soaked in bourbon. In answer, I have a tincture of orange peel harvested from a tree in my parents' yard and a cinnamon stick basking in the goodness of Bulleit Bourbon. This particular bourbon has a crazy fan base in San Diego County and was suggested to me by a regular at The Lost Abbey, James Frost. I plan to use this tincture in a stout that I will brew this Wednesday. The name of the beer to be made: Hoary Puffleg Stout.